Montana becomes the latest abortion battleground state for 2024
A new abortion rights advocacy organization, Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights, officially launched its ballot initiative, which aims to enshrine abortion rights in Montana’s state constitution. If the petition drive succeeds, it will make abortion central to the 2024 campaign and likely give vulnerable Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, a staunch abortion rights supporter, a boost. “Abortion is a topic that’s become politicized and stigmatized, but in reality, we all love someone or are someone who’s had an abortion,” Martha Fuller, CEO and president of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana, said during the official launch event. “We can no longer let politicians threaten access to the lifesaving, essential care that thousands of Montanans need and deserve. Montanans must act now to proactively secure our right to abortion.” If the group succeeds in gaining enough qualified signatures for the ballot, it will join about a dozen states in making abortion a driving issue in the 2024 campaign, potentially salvaging the Democrats’ Senate majority. Montana would be joining battleground states where Democrats are on defense, including Arizona and Nevada. The Senate Democrats’ campaign arm has already reserved $2 million in radio ads for Tester, part of the more than $300 million that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and associated super PACs are spending, not just to defend the majority but to grow it. And abortion is going to be key to both aims. Take Florida, for example, where former Democratic Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell sees a huge opportunity in her bid to defeat GOP Sen. Rick Scott. "It hasn't been just Democrats. This is not a partisan issue for people living here in the state of Florida," she told Daily Kos. Having abortion on the ballot, she said, is an "incredible opportunity" for abortion supporters "to exercise their rights to vote and to choose what is best for our bodies and for our own lives." Abortion has always been a salient issue for voters in the red states of Ohio—where Sen. Sherrod Brown is also defending his seat—and Kansas. Abortion rights victories there—as well as the landslide victory of Democrat Marilyn Lands in Alabama—already have Republicans looking over their shoulders. Now Montana is providing yet another opportunity to tie already flummoxed Republicans in knots. Please donate $10 or even $20 apiece to each of these races to help Democrats keep the Senate blue in 2024! RELATED STORIES: The Republican disaster on IVF is just beginning Morning Digest: Democratic landslide in Alabama is massive warning for GOP on IVF The Downballot: The Kansas abortion earthquake, with Quinn Yeargain (transcript) It's an old story, but it never gets old: Democrats just whooped Republicans in fundraising—again. This week on "The Downballot" podcast, we're running through some of the most eye-popping numbers Democrats hauled in during the first quarter of the year (Sherrod Brown! Jon Tester! Colin Allred!) and the comparatively weak performances we're seeing from Republicans almost across the board. The GOP hopes to make up the gap by relying on self-funders, but a campaign without a strong fundraising network can be dangerously hollow. Embedded Content
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A new abortion rights advocacy organization, Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights, officially launched its ballot initiative, which aims to enshrine abortion rights in Montana’s state constitution. If the petition drive succeeds, it will make abortion central to the 2024 campaign and likely give vulnerable Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, a staunch abortion rights supporter, a boost.
“Abortion is a topic that’s become politicized and stigmatized, but in reality, we all love someone or are someone who’s had an abortion,” Martha Fuller, CEO and president of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana, said during the official launch event. “We can no longer let politicians threaten access to the lifesaving, essential care that thousands of Montanans need and deserve. Montanans must act now to proactively secure our right to abortion.”
If the group succeeds in gaining enough qualified signatures for the ballot, it will join about a dozen states in making abortion a driving issue in the 2024 campaign, potentially salvaging the Democrats’ Senate majority. Montana would be joining battleground states where Democrats are on defense, including Arizona and Nevada.
The Senate Democrats’ campaign arm has already reserved $2 million in radio ads for Tester, part of the more than $300 million that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and associated super PACs are spending, not just to defend the majority but to grow it. And abortion is going to be key to both aims.
Take Florida, for example, where former Democratic Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell sees a huge opportunity in her bid to defeat GOP Sen. Rick Scott. "It hasn't been just Democrats. This is not a partisan issue for people living here in the state of Florida," she told Daily Kos. Having abortion on the ballot, she said, is an "incredible opportunity" for abortion supporters "to exercise their rights to vote and to choose what is best for our bodies and for our own lives."
Abortion has always been a salient issue for voters in the red states of Ohio—where Sen. Sherrod Brown is also defending his seat—and Kansas. Abortion rights victories there—as well as the landslide victory of Democrat Marilyn Lands in Alabama—already have Republicans looking over their shoulders.
Now Montana is providing yet another opportunity to tie already flummoxed Republicans in knots.
RELATED STORIES:
The Republican disaster on IVF is just beginning
Morning Digest: Democratic landslide in Alabama is massive warning for GOP on IVF
The Downballot: The Kansas abortion earthquake, with Quinn Yeargain (transcript)
It's an old story, but it never gets old: Democrats just whooped Republicans in fundraising—again. This week on "The Downballot" podcast, we're running through some of the most eye-popping numbers Democrats hauled in during the first quarter of the year (Sherrod Brown! Jon Tester! Colin Allred!) and the comparatively weak performances we're seeing from Republicans almost across the board. The GOP hopes to make up the gap by relying on self-funders, but a campaign without a strong fundraising network can be dangerously hollow.
